Dana Montana used to show double features in her backyard as a sort of unofficial film festival.

Now, she'll have a slightly larger venue at which to feature her first official film festival.

Montana is curating Montana's Summer Film Festival at La Tuna Slab as part of the Slab Cinema Satellite 2007 Outdoor Cinema Series. The festival, which will feature primarily older films, runs every Thursday night in August.

“I love film,” Montana said.

Montana will showcase some of her favorites, including “Iron Mask” on Aug. 2, “His Girl Friday” on Aug. 9 and “The Blue Angel” on Aug. 16. All of those films were released more than 60 years ago.

“'Iron Mask' is just a classic,” Montana said of the silent film, released in 1929. “And ‘His Girl Friday,' I loved it as a little kid.”

Not that Montana's Summer Film Festival will solely feature the classics.

Montana on Aug. 30 will showcase “Human Gravity,” a film by local director David Simms that centers on an elderly former World War II fighter pilot named Abe O'Malley, his hard-drinking lifestyle and perpetual immaturity.

“It's basically the story of his family having to deal with him,” Montana said of “Human Gravity,” which was filmed last year. “I think the tagline is something like, ‘Every family's got one, the one who never grows up.' That would be him.”

CLINT HALE | 210SA